Civil Servants in the Romanian Public Administration
Transcription
Civil Servants in the Romanian Public Administration
Volume XVI • No. 3 • Summer Civil Servants in the Romanian Public Administration from the Legal and Managerial Point of View Armenia Androniceanu, Bogdan Nastase, Public Administration and Public Management Department, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania. Legal Aspects The legislation concerning civil servants has been constantly ammended after the Revolution, in order to better accommodate changes in the administrative structure – and to better respond to the challenges Romania had to face as a state on its way to EU Accession – as well as a young Member [continued on page 2] > PA in CEE Civil Servants in the Romanian PA / 1 Review of Activities Calendar of Events / 5 NISPAcee news 3/2009 The main characteristics of the Romanian civil servants make for an interesting case-study. The authors present both the legal, as well as the managerial aspects of the Romanian civil service, in order to identify its main strengths and weaknesses. The methodology is based on empirical research, public reports and legislative scanning. The results indicate that for a young EU Member State such as Romania, the HR capacity of the public system needs to be increased – and that public administration reform represents a continuous process, emphasising the need to adapt the bureaucratic system to the challenges of European integration. Recent Publications / 8 NISPAcee Events 17th NISPAcee Annual Conference / 10 Civil Society Organisations in Kyrgyzstan / 17 NISPAcee Announcements 18th NISPAcee Annual Conference / 18 NISPAcee Journal / 19 Translations into CEE National Languages / 19 21 NISPAcee Membership / 20 Public Administration in CEE >[continued from page 1] State. Some of the most important milestones are presented below. The Statute of Civil Servants was published in 1999 and represented a major step forward for the civil service: it aimed to ensure, in compliance with the legal provisions, a stable, professional, transparent, efficient and unbiased civil service, for the benefit of citizens a well as that of the authorities and public institutions in the central and local public administration. The local authorities awaited, with much interest, the Local Public Administration Law of 2001, which regulated the general regime of local autonomy, as well as the organisation and functioning of the local public administration authorities. In order to attract welltrained young people into the public administration, a new specific public function with a special statute was created in 2004, by Emergency Ordinance: that of public manager, who benefited from a fast track promotion system and from a motivating level of salary. This measure was considered to better answer the reform needs of the public administration, having as a main target the creation and development of a body of professional and neutral public servants, comparable with those existing in the EU member state countries. At the same time, the importance of maintaining an updated view on the body of civil servants was reflected in the Government adopting the decision regarding the professional record of civil servants. 2 In 2004, a new law on administrative contentious was also adopted, to better protect citizen interest against abuse. In 2004, the Parliament of Romania adopted the law on the Code of Conduct for Civil Servants, regulating the general norms of moral and professional conduct compulsory for civil servants. The Code was aimed at securing an increase in the quality of the public service, a good management with a view to best serving public interests and to contribute to the elimination of bureaucracy and corruption in the public administration sector. Public confidence has represented a constant priority for the Romanian Government: admitting the importance of forward planning, the Government regulated the management side of the civil service (to be dealt with in more detail in the next sub-chapter), with administrative decisions such as the annual Decision on the approval of the Public Sector Ocupational Plan or the Decision regarding the organisation and development of the civil servant’s career. The legislative proposals envisaged by the Government deal mainly with salary adjustments: since 2009 is marked by the effects of the current crisis and is, at the same time, an electoral year, it seems that it is high time to implement such measures as, for instance, the long-awaited unitary and transparent pay-system. Managerial Aspects The management of civil servants is ensured in Romania by the National Agency of Civil Servants1. It was set up by the Law on the Statute of civil servants as a specialised body of the central public administration, dealing with the management of the civil service and civil servants. It is subordinated to the Ministry of Administration and Interior. The main objectives of the Agency refer to drafting the legislative framework 1 http://www.anfp.gov.ro concerning the civil service and civil servants, monitoring and controlling the enforcement of regulations in the field, managing the programmes related to the civil service, international cooperation and the civil servants’ national database management. Civil servants are required to undergo periodical training programmes (usually every year). The main partner in this regard is the National Institute of Administration (INA). INA also provides training for future public managers – or high-level civil servants. As part of the European administrative system, the Romanian civil servants also visit international training institutes such as the European Institute of Public Administration in Maastricht. The European Institute in Romania is also a training provider, with core programmes focused on European studies. The civil servants have the possibility to participate in trade unions (eg. Sed Lex), in order to better express their views on draft legislative proposals in particular – and to have their interests better represented, in general. The Romanian Central Public Administration Civil servants work at all levels of public administration, ensuring continuity and stability to the overall functioning of the administrative system. According to experience and education, they are to be found working on executive functions (referents, counsellors), management functions (Directors, Heads of Unit) – or as leading high civil servants (e.g. Secretaries-General). At Government level, civil servants work to ensure the application of Romania’s national and foreign policies. In order to exercise its duties, the Government has at its disposal an apparatus com- Public Administration in CEE posed of the General Secretariat and departments with specific attributions. Subordinated to the Government administration are: Ministries, as specialised central public administration institutions. Various structures are subordinated to the ministries, e.g. agenFigure 1 cies and authorities. Specialised public administration institutions with connected activities: Deconcentrated public services, at county (= ro. “judeţ”) level In 2007, in line with the decentralisation process, 85 % of civil service positions were registered at local and territorial level (40 % at local level and almost half of that total at territorial level). total civil service. Only 31 % of civil servants are men. Irrespective of the central or local level, civil servants are mostly women (more than 55 % in each case) and permanent (80 %). Civil servants are, by definition, apolitical. However, political interference represents one of the main weak points both at local level and the central level. Whistleblowing is still incipient – as well as its reglementation. NISPAcee news 3/2009 Autonomous The limits bodies (=ro. “regii Source: National Agency of Civil Servants 2007 Management Report. imposed by law autonome”), national on the sources of companies, public revenue for civil Share of civil service positions in institutions which offer public servants only allow them extrathe central and local civil adminservices, but are not part of the work in academia – not in the istration in Romania, 2007 central public administration; private sector, defined as incomThe connection between the Other specialised institutions patible with the public function. central and the local levels is enof the central public administraNonetheless, the external credits sured by the prefecture institution. tion, such as the agencies. undertaken by the Government The holder of this position was from International Financing Ininitially politically named, ensurThe Romanian Local Public stitutions (IFIs), such as the IMF, ing the role of Government repAdministration are increasing the downward resentation in the territory. The pressure on salaries. The personThe public authorities at local prefect was apolitical over the nel expenses are seen as one of level have the following struclast years, belonging to the group the most important shares of ture: of high-level civil servants. Since public expenses. Another weak 2009, the prefect is again named Elected local councils and point for the civil service is the politically. The prefect runs the mayors chosen at community/ spectre of corruption. Since the deconcetrated services. There city level. They function as ausalaries remain low, the incentive tonomous administrative author- are no subordination reports to defect is high. between prefects and mayors, ities and they have attributions Looking at the internal struccity councils, district councils and directed at solving the problems ture of positions in the public their respective presidents. in the communes or cities. administration, we shall see cleavDistrict councils – at “judeţ” Strong Vs. Weak ages that separate civil servants level. These councils coordinate Points of the Civil from, for instance, contractual the activities of the communal positions – some with special Service and city councils, with a view to statuses and privileges. Doubled The level of education represents an running public services at disby the internal division between indicator of a system’s capacity to trict level. the “regular” civil servants and cope with challenges. In central The civil servants working in “special” civil servants, such as public administration, 8 out of 10 the local public administration civil servants have a higher educa- the public managers, for inoffer expertise, as well as adminstance, these demarcation lines tion, compared with 7 out of 10 at istrative support (the secretary is contribute to a problematic work the territorial level – and with a one of the key stakeholders in all atmosphere, both at the local mere 3 out of 10 at the local level. local communities). and central level, since the work The gender balance is in favour of to be done is sometimes similar, women, with 69 % in 2007 of the 3 Public Administration in CEE irrespective of the position occupied by a person – be it civil servant or contractual agents. Taking age into account, we have, on the one hand, the increased salary and expertise, whilst on the other hand, pressure to retire. The most successful teams of civil servants involve a mixture of youth, dynamism, energy and enthusiasm, with an input of experience, calm and know-how. Current Opportunities for the Civil Service In Romania, public administration has the fundamental role of mediating between public and private interest. On its way to EU accession, Romania has faced not only the need to adapt its economic system (processes), but also its administrative system (structures). After accesstion, the opportunities created by the current financial crisis include the possibility of taking advantage of lower prices to re-engineer the public information management systems. Another recent opportunity has come from the necessity to keep civil servants motivated: due to the budget deficit, the Romanian Government had to take drastic measures to cut off costs at the beginning of 2009 (including blocking the approximately 15 % vacant positions). One of these measures was the decrease in the number of weightings. The 75 % weighting of the civil servants working with European funds was targeted. A potential solution could be found in financing this incentive from the Technical Assistance funds destined to public administration, therefore relieving the pressure on the state budget. 4 Between 2007 and 2013, 208 million euros have been allocated to Romania for the Operational Programme Development of Administrative Capacity, through the European Social Fund. Taking into account that the national co-financing needed is only 2 % per project – and that up to 98 % of the eligible expenses may be covered from structural funds, public institutions may develop integrated projects, in order to better answer common needs that neighbouring administrative units are facing. Conclusions Becoming an EU Member State has meant that Romania has translated the European principles into its legislation. As a consequence, the priority is now to develop apolitical managerial mechanisms oriented towards development. At local level, this translates into establishing the mechanisms which stimulate regional development. The civil servants play an important role in this process: they represent the stability and continuity element in the public system, going beyond political debate. The public perception of civil servants is still affected by inherited cliches, many of them negative. As a suggestion, a strong, effective communication campaign aimed at presenting the exact role of the civil servants in society could result in a more realistic image of the civil service, benefitting both public administration and the final beneficiaries: the citizens themselves. Changes are still needed in the Romanian public organisations in order to increase their human resources capacity for supporting the reform processes. Nevertheless, the Romanian public administration has taken the initial steps in the direction of a functioning, citizen-oriented administration, in line with the general principles of the European administrative system. With the introduction of a Civil Servants’ Status, a Code of Conduct for the Civil Servants, as well as other executive decisions targeted and an improved efficiency of the outputs, Romania has gained in the overall quality of the administrative process. Bibliography Books: 1. Androniceanu, Armenia. 2004. Management Public Internaţional, Ed. Economică. 2. Hofstede, Geert. 2005. Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind (2nd, revised edition). McGraw-Hill. 3. Peters, B. Guy. 1999. Institutional theory in political science, London: Wellington House. 4. Pollitt, Christopher, 2005. Performance or compliance ?, Oxford University Press. Articles: 1. Năstase, Bogdan. 2008. The waterdrop principle or about the management of EU Law implementation, in Quality – Access to Success, year 9, no. 93, p. 92–95. 2. Page, Edward. 1997. Bureaucracy and the EU, in People who run Europe, Oxford: Clarendon Press. 3. Pierson, Paul. 1996. The new institutionalism and EC Governance: the promise and limits of institutional analysis, in Governance, Vol.9, No.4. Legislation: • Law No 188 of December 8, 1999 – updated – The Statute of Civil Servants. • Other relevant legislation on civil servants. Official reports: • 2004–2007 reports of the National Agency of Civil Servants. • 2007 IRSOP survey on civil service. Internet: http://www.gov.ro http://www.anfp.gov.ro http://www.ase.ro/cicmp http://www.eipa.nl Review of Activities Calendar of Events July 4–11, 2009, Summer School “Cultural Dimensions of Politics in Europe 2009” Place: Prague, Czech Republic Organiser: Center for Public Policy Language: English Contact: phone: +420 739 569 045, fax: +420 281 930 584, e-mail: cdpe@cpvp.cz, web: http://www.cdpe.cpvp.cz July 05–12, 2009, The 6 DRC (Danube Rectors’ Conference) Summer School on Regional Co-operation: th July 5–10, 2009, Summer School “Model Based Public Planning, Policy Design, and Management: a System Dynamics approach” Place: Ustica (Palermo, Italy) Contact: Carmine Bianchi, e-mail: bianchi@unipa.it, phone: +39.091.587400, web: www.ced4.it July 6–18, 2009, 5th International Jean Monnet Summer School July 11–21, 2009, The European Summer School 2009 (ESS 2009) “TransAtlantic Relations from the Perspective of Central Europe” Place: Prague, Czech Republic Organiser: The EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy associated with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in European Studies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University Language: English Contact: e-mail: ess2009@europeum.org, web: http://www.europeum.org/ ess2009/ess.php July 20–25, 2009, Central and Eastern Europe Twenty Years After Place: Vama Veche, Romania Organiser: The Luxembourg Institute for July 29 – August 15, 2009, 4th ECPR Summer School in Methods and Techniques Place: Ljubljana, Republic of Slovenia Organiser: European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR), the University of Ljubljana Language: English Contact: ECPR Central Services, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ, UK, e-mail: ecpr@essex.ac.uk, web: http://www.essex. ac.uk/ecpr/events/ summerschools/ljubljana/ index.aspx August 24–27, 2009, Summer School – Data Modeling and Analysis for e-Governance Language: Bulgarian; English Place: Sofia, Bulgaria Contact: Prof. Roumiana Tsankova, Sofia, Technical University, Faculty of Management, e-mail: rts@tu-sofia.bg, Assist. Prof. Nadia Gilina e-mail: ngilina@yahoo.com August 24–30, 2009, JM-CETRO Summer School 2009. The Domestic Europeanization of Labour Market and Employment Policies: Effects, Mechanisms and Actors in the process of institutional change Place: Oldenburg, Germany NISPAcee news 3/2009 “Regime Change and Transitions across the Danubian Region: 1989–2009” Place: Budapest, Hungary Organiser: The Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM), Vienna, IDResearch Ltd (IDR), Pécs, the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest and the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pécs Language: English Contact: Mr. Zoltán Vörös, IDResearch Ltd., phone: +36-30-867-1955, fax: +36-72-522-624, e-mail: voros@idresearch.hu, web: http://www.drcsummerschool.eu “International Environment and European Integrations” Language: English Place: Rijeka (Croatia) Contact: Prof. Vinko Kandžija, Faculty of Economics, University of Rijeka, Croatia, phone: +385-51-355100, fax:. +385-51-675750, e-mail: kandzija@efri.hr European and International Studies (LIEIS), the Black Sea University Foundation, the European Cultural Centre Language: English Contact: Mrs. Maria Burs-Popescu, European Cultural Centre, Bucharest, Romania, phone: +4021-6508145, +4021-6503280, fax: +4021-6503280, e-mail: cti@clicknet.ro 5 Review of Activities Organiser: The Jean Monnet Centre for Europeanisation and Transnational Regulations Oldenburg (CETRO) Language: English Contact: Sascha Zirra, e-mail: sascha.zirra@uni-oldenburg.de, web: http://www.cetro.unioldenburg.de/en/38590.html August 30- September 13, 2009, Minority Politics and Minority Conflicts in Eastern Europe from the 19th to the 21st Centuries Place: Hannover, Germany Organiser: Leibniz Universität Hannover Summer Academy Language: English Contact: Prof. Dr. Malte Rolf, Dr. Sören Philipps, Leibniz University of Hannover, Germany, phone: +49 (0)511-762-4201, +49 (0)511-762-19164, fax: +49 (0)511-762-3128, +49 (0)511 762-19185, e-mail: malte.rolf@hist.uni-hannover.de, s.philipps@ipw.uni-hannover.de, web: http://www.hist.uni-hannover. de/sommerakademie/minderheitenin-osteuropa September 10–13, 2009, Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: The Politics of Memory and Democratization in Europe Place: Riga, Latvia Organiser: The Advanced Social and Political Research Institute at the University of Latvia Language: English Contact: Dr. Timofey Agarin, Riigiteaduste Instituut, Tartu, Estonia, phone: +372 5637 5543m, e-mail: conferenceASPRI@lu.lv 6 September 17–19, 2009, 20 Years of Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Money, Banking and Financial Markets Place: London, UK Organiser: London Metropolitan Business School Language: English Contact: Liz Caswell, London Metropolitan Business School, London Metropolitan University, phone: +44 020 7133 3868, fax: +44 020 7133 3899, e-mail: CICMConference2009@ londonmet.ac.uk, web: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/ lmbs/research/cicm/cicm-conference/ cicmconference_home.cfm September 24–26, 2009, Conference “16th Days of Slovene Administration – Crisis as Challenge and Opportunity for the Reforms of Public Administration” Language: Slovene/English Place: Portoroz, Slovenia Contact: Marija Sušnik, e-mail: marija.susnik@fu.uni-lj.si, web: http://www.fu.uni-lj.si September 25–26, 2009, The 4th Symposium on European Issues: What Will Be ? Analysis and Visions for Europe Place: Klagenfurt, Austria Organiser: The Department of Sociology at the University of Klagenfurt Language: English Contact: Josef Langer, Karen Meehan, Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, phone: +43 (0)463-2700-3402, fax: +43 (0)463-2700-993402, e-mail: josef.langer@uni-klu.ac.at, karen.meehan@uni-klu.ac.at, web: http://www.uni-klu.ac.at/ sozio/bilder/SYMPOCall2009x.pdf October 7–10, 2009, Second Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue on Public Management Languages: English, French Date and Place: 7–10 October 2009, PortorozPiran, Slovenia Contact: Fabienne Maron, phone: + 32 2 536 08 84, fax: + 32 2 537 97 02, e-mail: f.maron@iias-iisa.org, web: www.med-2009.com October 12–16, 2009, Incorporating Diversity into the Teaching of Public Administration – Course Innovation Session for teachers in higher education and trainers in relevant fields, particularly from the former Soviet Union, Mongolia, SouthEastern Europe Language: English Place: Central European University (CEU), Budapest, Hungary Deadline: September1, 2009 Contact: Curriculum Resource Center, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary, phone: +36-1-327 3189 +36-1-327 3000, fax: +36-1-327 3190, e-mail: crc@ceu.hu web: www.ceu.hu/crc, http://lgi.osi. hu/documents.php?id=2597 October 17–18, 2009, 1989–2009: The East European Revolutions in Perspective Place: London (University of London Union), UK Organiser: Debatte. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe Language: English Contact: Gareth Dale, e-mail: gareth.dale@brunel.ac.uk, web: http://www.tandf.co.uk/ journals/pdf/conferences/cdeb_08. pdf November 3–4, 2009, Europe Twenty Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Overcoming “East and West” Place: Wellington, New Zealand Organiser: National Centre for Research on Review of Activities Europe, University of Canterbury, Christchurch; Victoria University of Wellington; Australasian Association for Communist and Post-Communist Studies; New Zealand European Union Centres Network, and New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Wellington Language: English Contact: John Leslie, Political Science, Victoria University, e-mail: john.leslie@vuw.ac.nz, web: http://www.eucnetwork.org. nz/activities/conference/index November 19–20, 2009, International Conference “Public Administration: New Developments and Global View” Organiser: Public Administration Academy of the Republic of Armenia Contact: e-mail: aspa@nt.am November 23–24, 2009, 20 Years of Transformation in the Region of Central and Eastern Europe Place: Lodz, Poland November 16–17, 2009, 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution – International Conference Place: Bratislava, Slovak Republic Organiser: Nation’s Memory Institute Language: Slovak, Czech, and English Contact: Peter Balun, Ustav pamati naroda, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, phone: +421 2 593 00 338, e-mail: konferencia.november1989@upn. gov.sk, web: http://www.upn.gov.sk/ aktuality/20th-anniversaryof-the-velvet-revolution-internationalconference Events of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Language: English Courses in autumn semester 2009: Transformation of the Public Sector Contact: Dr. Robert Jahoda, e-mail: jahoda@econ.muni.cz Economic Aspects of the Transition Process Contact: Assoc. Prof. Libor Žídek, e-mail: zidek@econ.muni.cz Impacts of the Transformation on the Regional Development of the Czech Republic Contact: Dr. Vladimír Žítek, e-mail: zitek@econ.muni.cz Events of the Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic Language: Czech, English Special e-learning courses in Moodle system in autumn semester: Human Resources Management in Public Sector Project management for Local Administration Contact: Dr. Jan Stejskal e-mail: jan.stejskal@upce.cz Events of the Hague Academy for Local Governance, The Netherlands July 6–9, 2009, Special Course: Decentralisation and Local Governance Language: English NISPAcee news 3/2009 November 5–7, 2009, Post-Communism and the New European Identity Place: Oradea, Romania Organiser: The Research Centre on Identity and Migration Issues of the Faculty of Political Science and Communication, University of Oradea Language: English Contact: e-mail: contact@e-migration.ro, web: http://e-migration.ro/AboutRCIMI-Conference.php Organiser: Department of Political Systems, Political Studies Institute, Faculty of International and Political Studies of the University of Lodz Language: Polish, English and Russian Contact: Dr Michał Słowikowski, Dr Maciej Potz, e-mail: slowik@mnc.pl; maciekpotz@hotmail.com, web: http://www.wsmip.uni.lodz.pl/ KSP/ksp.html 7 Review of Activities Contact: Emmely Benschop, phone: +31-70-373 8695, fax: +31-70-373 8660, e-mail: info@thehagueacademy.com, web: www.thehagueacademy.com September 8–11, 2009, Special Course: City Diplomacy Language: English Contact: Emmely Benschop, phone: +31-70-373 8695, fax: +31-70-373 8660, e-mail: info@thehagueacademy.com, web: www.thehagueacademy.com September 20–25, 2009, Special Course: How to Use the Power of Your Citizens ? Language: English Contact: Suzanne Jansen, phone: +31-70-373 8695, fax: +31-70-373 8660, e-mail: info@thehagueacademy.com, web: www.thehagueacademy.com November 19–20, 2009, Special Course: Masterclass Municipal International Cooperation for Dutch Municipalities Language: Dutch Contact: Marlies de Jong, phone: +31-70-373 8695, fax: +31-70-373 8660, e-mail: info@thehagueacademy.com, web: www.thehagueacademy.com Seminars of the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), Maastricht, Netherlands September 14–15, 2009, Transformational Government: Reducing Administrative Burden Place: Maastricht September 17–18, 2009, Working with Impact Assessment in the EU Place: Maastricht 8 September 21–22, 2009, The New Relationship with our Neighbours: A Practical Guide to the European Neighbourhood Policy Place: Maastricht Recent Publications September 23–25, 2009, Developing the Project Pipeline for EU Structural Funds Place: Maastricht Public Integrity: Theories and Practical Instruments September 28–30, 2009, Tutorial: Project Cycle Management: A Technical Guide Place: Maastricht September 28–29, 2009, Practical Tools for National Implementation: Implementation of EU Policies at National Level Place: Luxembourg September 29 – October 1, 2009, Introductory and Practitioners Seminar: European Public Procurement Rules, Policy and Practice Place: Maastricht October 5–7, 2009, Public Private Partnerships (PPP) – Practitioners’ Workshop: Making PublicPrivate Partnerships Work – A Practical Guide Place: Maastricht October 15–16, 2009, State Aid Policy and Practice in the European Community – An Integrative and Interactive Approach Place: Maastricht October 15–16, 2009, Supporting the Programme Monitoring Committees in EU Structural Funds Place: Maastricht October 22–23, 2009, Understanding Decision-Making in the European Union: Principles, Procedures and Practice Place: Maastricht Contact: Ms Joyce Groneschild, e-mail: j.groneschild@eipa-nl.com, web: www.eipa.eu Editors: Patrycja J. Suwaj, Hans J. Rieger Publisher: NISPAcee Resume: Different theories, mechanisms and instruments supporting public integrity have been put forward in this book. The book collects different approaches to public integrity for better understanding of the concept, ideas, mechanisms and instruments supporting public integrity. The book contains collective work and findings within the NISPAcee Working Group on Integrity. Contact: NISPAcee Civil Service Training Systems in the Western Balkans Region Publisher: ReSPA, 2008 Language: English Resume: This publication provides a comparative overview of the Civil Service Training Systems in the Western Balkans, including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99). Review of Activities Restrictions of Cross-Border Services between Austria and Slovenia – An Economic Assessment of the Existing Market Regulations. Sustainability of Civil Service Reforms in Central and Eastern Europe Five Years After EU Accession. Authors: Thomas Döring, Birgit Aigner Publisher: Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, School of Public Management. Price: 14,50 EUR Language: German Resume: The survey asks for the economic usefulness of the restrictions of cross-border service activities between Austria and Slovenia. To be able to provide an answer to this question, the topic is analyzed in four steps: First, the expected welfare effects of cross-border service restrictions will be outlined by discussing the impact of such regulations on the efficient allocation of resources as well as the pace of economic change. Therefore, theoretical and empirical insights concerning the economic effects of international trade with services will be considered. Secondly, the survey analyzes the empirical situation of cross-border trade of goods and services between Austria and Slovenia in order to argue that Austria realizes a “double dividend” with respect to the existing regulatory system. In part three, the question is asked to what extend a complete liberalization of cross-border services would affect Austrian regions economically, if one takes into account the geographical limited market radius of the currently regulated service industries. Finally, the status quo analysis of the existing restrictions of cross-border services between Austria and Slovenia provides a background to derive policy recommendations concerning the onward handling of these restrictions. Contact: Marika Gruber, phone: +43-5/90500-1239, Publisher: Sigma 2009 Language: English Resume: This paper examines the fate of civil service reforms that Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries undertook to prepare themselves for the EU accession that took place in May 2004 (5th EU enlargement). Distribution: free of charge on Sigmaweb (www.sigmaweb.org/papers). Attractiveness of Civil Service in the Western Balkans. Publisher: ReSPA 2009 Language: English Resume: This publication provides a comparative overview of the Attractiveness of Civil Service in the Western Balkans– salaries and other motivation tools, including in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. Distribution: free of charge on ReSPAweb (www.respaweb.eu). fax: +43-5/90500-1210, e-mail: m.gruber@fh-kaernten.at, web: www.fh-kaernten.at. English-Russian Glossary of Terms and Concepts in Polisy Analysis, Public Administration and Public Economics. Editor: Oleksandr Kiliievych Language: Russian Resume: The glossary is the first publication of its kind in the Russian language. It is also a unique resource for those who know only English, since it brings together in one volume the concepts and terms used in policy analysis, public administration and public economics. The glossary will facilitate an understanding of these fields by actors in government, civil society, universities and international organizations. Public policy is a new field in the countries of the former Soviet Union and Russian terminology has yet to be established and standardized. Although there have been many seminars on public policy as a result of donor activity, their effectiveness has been constrained because translators have difficulty in rendering English language terms into Russian. By clarifying the meaning of terms, this work facilitates a discussion of substance. The glossary defines some 2,500 terms and concepts and cites examples of their usage in authoritative texts. This contextualizing of the terms and concepts gives the reader a better grasp of their meaning. Over 130 sources are used. In addition, there is an English-Russian, Russian-English dictionary of over 3,000 terms. The extensive preface discusses some of the difficult terminological issues. Orders: Merim Razbaeva, e-mail: merim.razbaeva@ucentralasia.or NISPAcee news 3/2009 Distribution: free of charge on ReSPAweb: http://www.respaweb.eu/index. php?option=com_remository&It emid=111&func=select&id=61. 9 NISPAcee Events The NISPAcee 17th Annual Conference State and Administration in a Changing World May 14–16, 2009, Budva, Montenegro Montenegro, representative of the Municipality of Budva, Adrian Ionescu, LGI/OIS, Budapest, Hungary, Allan Rosenbaum, IASIA President, Florida Internatioanl University, Miami, USA, and Jacek Czaputowicz, Director of the National School of PA, Warsaw, Poland. The keynote presentation was made by B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, USA and Attila Agh, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. The 17th NISPAcee Annual Conference, organised in cooperation with the Government of the Republic of Montenegro, the Human Resources Management Authority, was attended by more then 260 participants from 40 countries from all over the world. This included 20 CEE countries covered by NISPAcee’s institutional membership. NISPAcee would like to thank the local organisers, the Human Resource Management Authority of the Government of Montenegro, represented by its Director, Svetlana Vukovic, Jadranka Djurkovic and other colleagues, for the excellent organisation of the conference, financial support and the preparation of various social events, which created a very convivial and pleasant background for conference participants. 10 NISPAcee would also like to thank the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative affiliated with the Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary which financially supported the meetings of several working groups and contributed to the success of the conference. We also would like to extend our appreciation to the programme coordinators of each of the conference sessions and working groups for their contribution to the high scientific and academic value of the entire event. The conference began with welcoming and opening speeches presented by Gyorgy Jenei, NISPAcee President, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary, Jusuf Kalamperovic, Minister of Internal Affairs and PA, Montenegro, Svetlana Vukovic, Director of the Human Resource Management Authority of the Government of The morning plenary session was concluded with a presentation of the NISPAcee Alena Brunovska Award for Teaching Excellence in Public Administration to Prof. Mirko Vintar, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia who delivered a paper “Public Administration and IT: Is it time to get married ?”. The following part of the conference programme consisted of working sessions on the main conference theme, general sessions, meetings of seven working groups and Panel Sessions and Forums, which enriched the NISPAcee Events ference programme. The overall objectives are the presentation of different projects and relevant activities, as well as enabling and facilitating an exchange of views, experiences and good practices among participants, institutions and countries. General Session Chairs: Mzia Mikeladze, Caucasus University, Tbilisi, Georgia. Gyorgy Jenei, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest, Hungary. programme of the conference with new information, a presentation of new initiatives and new opportunities for collaboration with external organisations as well as with NISPAcee. The NISPAcee Business Meeting was also, as usual, on the conference programme. The annual reports (activities, finances) and future plans were presented to representatives of NISPAcee’s members and other participating guests. The closing plenary session was opened by Stanka SetnikarCankar and reports from all sessions and working groups (for a short summary see below) were presented. The NISPAcee MERIT AWARD was presented to Tiina Randma-Liiv, Estonia, The Award for NISPAcee’s Best Graduate Student Paper was presented to the winner Mr. Catalin Daniel Dumitrica, Romania, PhD student at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration, Romania for his paper “Building a Metropolitan Area Model for the Romanian Administrative Space”. Report of Panels and Forums Several panel sessions and forums were included in the con- NISPAcee news 3/2009 The election of new NISPAcee Steering Committee members was an important part of the programme. To replace Sergei Pushkarev, Russia who had completed his term on the Steering Committee, the General Assembly elected new NISPAcee Steering Committe member, Jacek Czaputowicz, Director of the National School of PA, Warsaw, Poland and also re-elected Mzia Mikeladze, Caucasus University, Tbilisi, Georgia for the next period. Juraj Nemec, Slovakia, Laszlo Vass, Hungary and Mirko Vintar, Slovenia, for their substantive contributions to NISPAcee’s devlopment. Eight presentations were submitted in the framework of the General Session. Due to the specifics of this Session, a wide scope of issues were covered. Out of eight, four were devoted to the Romanian context. Discussions were held on some of the drawbacks of the Romanian legislation regarding public management education. Another paper was devoted to the school aged population of Romania and what needs to be done in order to increase their enrolment in schools. The notion of corporate social responsibility was discussed for Romanian public institutions and it was concluded that this notion is vague whilst pursuing narrow and very specific goals by these institutions. One paper analysed to what degree social policies of the Romanian government are presented in the written press. An interesting presentation was made on a corporate study of the Austrian and Hungarian tax systems. Despite the similarities between the tax laws of these two countries, decision-makers in Hungary and Austria took different paths to address current challenges. A critical analysis of these paths was undertaken. Two papers regarding the Bulgarian public administration reforms and relationship between Bulgarian 11 NISPAcee Events municipalities were presented. Another paper addressed the general issue of migration within the EU. Panel on Health Care, Reforms and Implementation country reforms for next year’s meeting in Warsaw. This protocol will also be sent to experts in other countries not present at the meeting, in order to create a broader base for co-operation in research. programmes, in particular, can influence the changing of the human resources behaviour for a more ethical one and how the results could be measured in time. The panel served as an exchange of the best practice experiences The panel also improved linkages between NISPAcee and the International Political Science Association’s Research Committee 25 on Comparative Health Policy. with practitioners and engaged scholars for setting up an integrated action plan containing the most successful actions and institutions from different countries in the fight against corruption. Panel on Integrity in Local Authority Areas Panel on Policy Analysis Development Issues Chairs: Armenia Androniceanu, Bucharest Academy of Economic Stuides, Bucharest, Romania. Thomas Wurm, DBB Akademie, Bonn, Germany. Moderator: David Elder, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Chair: Valeriy Tertychka, National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine. Chairs: Juraj Nemec, University of Matej Bel, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. James Bjorkman, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands. Health care, its reforms and implementation are crucial topics for every country in Central and Eastern Europe. Therefore, during its 2009 conference, NISPAcee organised a panel on Health Care, Health Reforms and Implementation. Its primary goal was to compare the processes and outcomes of health reforms in the CEE region, including explanations for their successes and failures. As agreed by consensus, health care reforms in Central Europe deliver planned outcomes and results only on a limited scale. There are no effective tools and measures to improve the Central European region where governance and public policy still need to reach international standards. A Czech paper, for example, noted that only one Czech government had provided the requisite implementation capacities. Finding the ‘right balance’ between market incentives and government regulation within different country conditions is another challenge for CEE countries. Obvious cost containment measures, such as co-payments, have been ‘vetoed’ by voters in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. 12 After the panel, the coordinators provided all participants with a draft research protocol to help them to develop studies of Panel discussions focused on the ethical dimension of the public policy process, decentralisation’s impact on the corruption phenomenon in public administration, the ethics from the socio/cultural perspective and other subjects raised by the participants. During the discussions the participants attempted to identify how education, in general, or the special training The Panel heard presentations from Ukraine, Slovenia, Bulgaria and Canada. The presentations and the following discussions maintained the dual perspectives of policy analysis as a Government/State function and policy analysis as an academic discipline. NISPAcee Events During the discussions, there had been an underlying theme of following up on the 2009 discussion, developing a focus for further discussions and setting out a workplan. The panel did not come to a firm proposal for such a workplan for 2010, but did set some possible directions, all within an over-riding goal of institutionalisation of the panel as a Working Group, the principal purpose of which would be to allow for discussing and sharing experiences on the use of policy analysis within governments and the teaching and training of policy analysis in academic and governmental institutions, and to give an opportunity for participants to highlight achievements of policy analysis as an academic discipline and its value within states/governments. The areas for possible future work are: 2.Policy analysis – where it is carried out. • Inside government – Policy Analysis Groups, Ministries and Agencies, Centre of Government • Outside government – think tanks, academic institutions. This would allow for presentations on country case studies. 3.Policy analysis – definition of concepts. Chairs: Juraj Nemec, Matej Bel University, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. B. Guy Peters, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. There were three panels addressing the issues of the main theme of the Conference – State and Administration in a Changing World. The papers in these panels covered a variety of themes concerning the changing role of the State and public administration in governing. There was a strong emphasis on the need for reform, and the difficulties of reforming, in the papers. One pervasive theme was “good governance” and the need to eliminate corruption in order to create effective States. Another important theme was the diffusion of ideas about governing, and using those ideas to motivate reform. Reports of Working Groups Working Group on Local Government Coordinators: Gabor Soos, Tocqueville Research Center, Budapest, Hungary. Markku Temmes, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. This WG focused on the problems and challenges of cityregions, metropolitan areas and capital cities. This focus turned out to be important and interesting in the CEE environment. City-regions have increasing importance as engines in the development of a global economy. In some presentations, there were interesting examples of the models with which CEE countries are supporting their metropolitans to catalyse national economic development. City-regions also represent the marvellous historical heritage of European urban culture. The CEE area and Central Asia are full of interesting city-regions with a long history of urbanisation. Several presentations tackled the challenges and threats of urbanisation and the national models to steer development in former communist countries. The WG concentrated on three sub-themes to cover cityregion development issues – development, governance and decentralisation problems. The WG plans to continue its work in the next conference by focusing on the local impacts and challenges of the global crisis. The WG is planning a publication around city-region themes in the CEE environment. The working title could be The Urban CEE. The idea is to describe and analyse urban development in the transition environment. The presentations at the Budva conference will provide a solid basis for this kind of publication. The content of the publication will be finalised during the summer of 2009. Depending on the results of the presentations at the next conference, the WG has plans to produce a second publication concerning the impacts of the economic crisis on local government in the CEE countries. Working Group on E-Government Coordinators: Ignace Snellen, University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Ljupčo Todorovski, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. The main theme of this year’s working group meeting was the establishment of a NISPAcee learning platform on e-government. The platform represents a common framework for facili- NISPAcee news 3/2009 1.Study of policy analysis through various forms of policy documents (which can be adapted for use in teaching): • Policy Memorandum • Green Paper • White Paper • Regulatory Impact Assessment/Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement • Briefing Notes (Information Notes, Decision Notes) Report of Working session on the Main Conference Theme 13 Review of Activities tating a more formal exchange of best practices in the use of information and communication technologies in the public of country-level development of e-government, and yet another session to applications of knowledge management tech- posts. Afterwards there was the heavily discussed topic of the next presentations regarding a project description on HR and training aspects. The discrepancy between training needs and training offers were discussed, as well as the question of the privatisation of training for public servants and the sustainability of reforms and the speed of change in the reform processes. The working group will continue next year with the priority being HR policy and instruments, based on the expectations and topical needs of the group. Working Group on PA Reform in CEE CA Coordinators: Veronica Junjan Michiel S. de Vries 14 sector, where the transfer of knowledge can be monitored, documented, and evaluated. The platform can also facilitate a comparative analysis of good practices that would go beyond single country borders. With the call for papers for this year’s meeting, a process was initiated to establish the learning platform by soliciting an initial set of candidate showcases to be considered for inclusion in the learning platform. The authors of the 12 papers who attended the meeting come from seven countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey). The papers were proposed in five thematic sessions. We dedicated one thematic session (three slots of the conference programme) to e-learning platform showcases and presentations of specific e-government projects (also to be considered for inclusion in the platform). One session was dedicated to the models and methods for evaluating e-government projects, another session to a general analysis nologies in e-government. The WG will continue its efforts to build the NISPAcee e-government learning platform in years to come by soliciting papers on a further comparative analysis of showcases or the analysis of their transferability to other governmental sectors, regions or countries. Working Group on Civil Service Coordinators: Patrycja Joanna Suwaj, Polish Association for Public Administration Education, Bialystok, Poland. Hans Rieger, DBB Akademie, Bonn, Germany. The working group discussed several dimensions of the “Civil Service”. The presentations began with the topic of regulation and law. Country reports and comparative studies were discussed. This was followed by a discussion of the problem of political patronage in the process of appointing high ranking The discussions concentrated on the factors of success and failure of Public Administrative Reform and the divergence and convergence of developments in CEE and CA. The papers gave very good descriptions of what is happening and has happened in different regions. We went from the Baltics to the Balkans and from Central Europe to Eastern Europe and to Central Asia. Although the explanations for success and failure are broad, there are some similarities. These are the importance of the context and common inheritance of CEE and CA countries and especially, as one participant mentioned, the role of officials as and executive for the elite; the previous denial of the importance of competence; the previous absence of a merit system and the previous lack of a public service. Many things have improved, but not quickly enough. In the working group we discussed the causes: These were partly found in the existing conflicts: conflicts between external pressure to reform and path NISPAcee Announcements dependencies; conflicts of interest within public organizations, and a lack of skills, knowledge and attitudes within the public sector. At the same time, it was acknowledged that, in part, problems are unavoidable, that the transition seen in public administration reform in CEE and CA is characterised by trying to move from one extreme (State) to the other (Market) and, of course, one ends up somewhere in between (Administrative market) and that somewhere in between is a typical hybrid. This is difficult and complex to manage under adverse circumstances, suffering from the various views of the influential actors on the organisation and strong conflicts within the organisation, at the same time a lack of skills, outside arrogance and varying internal support results in enforced changes that no-one really supports. The preliminary problem, as identified, seems to be that where one needs a simple structured organisation in PA, complex organisations are created. Working Group on Public Sector Finance and Accounting Coordinators: Lucie Sedmihradska, University of Economics of Prague, Czech Republic. The Working Group focused this year on municipal asset management. Next to 11 country studies, which were elaborated based on the WG research protocol, four papers on other related topics were presented. Each of the country studies contained a case study of a selected municipality and/or a type of municipal asset. Use of the case approach proved to be beneficial as it brought an empirical component to the papers and, in several cases, it highlighted additional issues or problems. The main conclusion came from the Canadian case: We should take municipal asset management into the broader picture of local government finance: it is not only a potential source to generate revenue, but rather a tool to implement local government strategies regarding local development, housing or improvement of infrastructure. The WG agreed on the topic for next year’s conference: Local government finance in times of crisis: How to respond ? Working Group on Capacity Building of a Civil Servants’ Training System According to EU Requirements Chair persons: Marek Haliniak, National School of Public Administration, Warsaw, Poland. Rodica Stefanescu, Ecological University of Bucharest, Romania. Inesa Vorontchuk, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia. The main messages of the papers presented and discussed in WG VI were that: • globalisation and EU integration bring a tremendous change in the working context for public administration (PA), and create new demands and challenges for the capacity building of civil servants; • meeting all these needs and challenges, a new human and social capital, particularly a new type of leadership, has to be built through significant investments in training activities; • the education system for PA has to undertake new responsibilities, including leading the change with new curricula and ethical standards, new methods of training delivery and new approaches, and a shift to continuous learning for both individuals and organisations. In terms of defining priorities, the following were recommended: • the sustainable development concept, including environmental issues; • the modern ICT era must be included in the learning process and social interactions in PA; • academia should take an active role in developing new knowledge, skills, and attitudes to facilitate change, and be a leader in order to achieve the goals ahead; • training must provide a common understanding of the phenomena around (e.g. globalisation) and a common language for decision-makers and their community members, through the introduction of new concepts such as micro-economics, competitiveness and social responsibilities; • networking should be the main channel and instrument of leading change towards sustainable results, through collaboration in strategic partnerships between academia, government, NGOs and busi- NISPAcee news 3/2009 This problem will be explored more systematically in the future. The coordinators proposed a plan to publish a book on public administration reform with comparative studies on reforms which have succeeded and failed in the different regions. It was the shared conclusion that something is missing in mainstream theory on administrative reform, which accounts for the fact that public administration reforms in CEE countries and Central Asia, often does not result in the effects expected. Mihály Lados, Centre for Regional Studies of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. 15 NISPAcee Events ness – to build a shared vision, designing the training curricula, and obtaining support for community actions. The proposals emanating from the group discussions were to: • keep on interacting and further develop networking amongst the interested parties on particular topics (e.g. education), by forming a special e-mail group/forum, to followup on the initiated dialogue, to follow on with new ideas, and to build upon, with new initiatives. • consider changing the WG VI title, in order to better describe its real focus on the papers developed on education. Therefore, it has been proposed to formulate the new WG VI title as: “Training System & Institutions’ needs for effective Capacity Building of Civil Servants to respond to the Challenges, in close collaboration with their major Stakeholders”. Working Group for Practitioners Moderator and rapporteur: Biljana Nikolovska Zagar, Civil Servants Agency, Macedonia. Damir Ahmetovic, UNDP BiH, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the framework of the NISPAcee Conference, The Human Resources Management Authority (HRMA), Montenegro organised the working session on the topic: “The Recruitment Process in Public Administration in the countries of Western Balkans”. 16 The aim of the working session was to gather the countries of the Western Balkans together with EU member states and other countries and independent experts who will exchange their experiences in the area of human resources management and the recruitment process. Within the working session and based on the presentations and discussions of member countries, international experts and relevant international organisations, the best model of selection and recruitment of human resources was discussed in accordance with the best practice and standards of the EU. Through members’ discussions, presentations and conclusions, analyses were implemented and the necessary training was identified and organised at the regional level. NISPAcee Fair of New Project Proposals Chair: Ludmila Gajdosova, NISPAcee Executive Director. The Fair of New Project Proposals is a new NISPAcee initiative. The purpose of the Fair was to encourage members and other interested partners to engage in creative thinking and identify possible new projects, activities, partners and donors etc., to come up with ideas for discussion and to reach decisions by the participants on the proposals that could be further developed and coordinated by NISPAcee. Several initiatives selected for the Fair programme were presented and discussed among the participants. A UNDP policy specialist introduced a new regional project “The Regional Centre for Public Administration Reform”, which aims at facilitating professional networking and co-operation between the countries in the region of Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. The project proposal “Establishing the Eurasian Institute for Leadership Development in Public Administration at the Siberian Academy for Public Administration” aims to develop best leadership training technologies, train the trainers and disseminate new courses and training among educational institutions in Siberia, other regions of Russia and the countries of NIS, especially Central Asian countries. The representative of the Academy of Management under the President of Kyrgyz Republic presented the fellowship project proposal “Civil Service Capacity Building for Change Management”, which has been designed to support practical policy and public management reforms, by building capacities of talented and committed government officials who are well placed to influence policy, practical implementation of reforms and serve as change agents. The introduced project “Converting Crisis into Development Opportunities” should support schools of public administration (SPA) in their effort to nurture creative and innovative approaches to solve the actual problem of crisis by producing new intellectual capital. AdInfoSys Management Institute from Armenia proposed the project “Citizens’ Perception of the Public Services and Assessment of their Satisfaction with Public Services Delivered”, which is aimed at making public services’ delivery more responsive to the needs of individuals and local communities. At the end of the Conference a new joint UNDESA / NISPAcee initiative on the development of on-line training courses, which will be available via the NISPAcee and UNPAN websites was introduced. Within the Fair, additional proposals from conference participants were presented and discussed and there was agreement to continue project development and implementation. NISPAcee Events Sustainability and Effectiveness of Civil Society Organisations in Kyrgyzstan NISPAcee is running a project called the “Sustainability and Effectiveness of Civil Society Organisations in Kyrgyzstan” supported by SlovakAid, a Slovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ programme. The aim of the project is to create better conditions for civil society organisations for their active participation in the policymaking processes. Ms. Konokbaeva Aida. Special guests in the study visit included members of the Embassy of the Kyrgyz Republic in Austria – Mr. Azamatov Alakunov and Mr. Muratbek Baihodjoev. The Slovak side was represented mainly by Slovak project experts – Ms. Gajdošová Ľudmila, Ms. Hricková Jana, Mr. Hodás Milan and Ms. Jasová Adriana. Within the project, the workshop “Sustainability and Effectiveness of Civil Society Organisations in Kyrgyzstan” was implemented by NISPAcee and its Kyrgyz project partner, the Institution Social Research Centre, American University of Central Asia, in Bratislava, Slovakia in March, 2009. The workshop was organised in conjunction with a study visit to the relevant Slovak governmental institutions and civil society organisations (CSOs). The workshop programme focused on the following topics: relevant Kyrgyz legislation; the Slovak law-making proce- dure; E-governance in Slovakia; business enterprise of CSOs in Slovakia; Slovak practices in the area of defending common interests of the CSOs, and CSOs, democracy and law enforcement – the vicious circle and practice of Slovak CSOs. In the frame of the study visit, the Kyrgyz delegation had the opportunity to visit the National Council of the Slovak Republic, to meet and participate in discussions with the heads and representatives of different sections, departments and committees. They also visited the standing advisory body of the Government of the Slovak Republic – The Governmental Council for Nongovernmental and Non-profit Several proposals on the policy recommendations for the improvement of the Kyrgyz legislation were formulated as a result of the workshop and the study visit based on Slovak experiences and the agreement of all participants, for example: the allocation of 1 % of income tax; the creation of a governmental advisory body for non-governmental organisations; analysis of the Kyrgyz law on access to information and the internet system of legal information in order to propose their improvement; generation of an interactive “Portal of the legal acts” where all Bills could be publicised and publicly discussed; obligatory hearing on the public’s suggestions to the bill in inter-ministerial legislative procedure; a free copy of the Collection of Laws to each municipality; obligatory involvement of CSOs and citizens in the parliamentary legislative procedures; the right to petition for stopping the legislative process; increase in the capacity of parliamentary staff; each book published in Kyrgyzstan should be given to the Parliamentary library; creation of an official communicating tool between the 3rd sector and the state and the creation of periodical dialogue between CSOs and government. The selected recommendations will be analysed, developed in detail and publicised at the end of the project in November, 2009. NISPAcee news 3/2009 The Kyrgyz delegation included 10 representatives from Parliament, the Government and the 3rd sector. Members of the Kyrgyz Parliament were represented by Mr. Sabirov Alisher, Ms. Moldosheva Dinara, Mr. Zhamaldinov Ziiadin and Mr. Baitikov Asanbek. Also taking part in the delegation was Mr. Aidraliev Akylbek, Head of the Department on Electronic Governance from the Office of the Prime Minister. The Kyrgyz 3rd sector was represented by Mr. Mambetov Aidar from the Association of Civil Society Support Centres. The Kyrgyz partner institution was represented by a team of experts and managers – Mr. Baktygulov Sheradil, Ms. Alymbaeva Aida, Ms. Esengul Chinara and organisations, the Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak Republic – Section for Public Administration. A meeting and discussions with representatives of the 1st Slovak Non-profit Service Centre were also on the programme, as well a visit to the NISPAcee Secretariat and its library. 17 NISPAcee Announcements Invitation & Call for papers The 18th NISPAcee Annual Conference 13–15, May 2010, Warsaw, Poland Public Administration in Times of Crisis Organised in Co-operation with The National School of Public Administration, Warsaw, Poland. The annual conferences of NISPAcee focus upon a significant theme, which facilitates a better understanding of important issues regarding the administrative development and policymaking capacity in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The Conference includes experts, scholars and practitioners who work in the field of public administration in Central and Eastern Europe (including all countries covered by the NISPAcee membership, the Russian Federation, Caucasus and Central Asia), as well as from many other regions and countries of the world. The Conference programme will include the opening and closing plenary sessions, general sessions, working sessions on the main conference theme, specialised panels and forums and meetings of NISPAcee Working Groups, which will run in parallel. Papers are invited on the Main Conference Theme, for the General Session, or on the themes of the various Working Groups, which will be announced for the conference. Main Conference Theme 18 The current crisis, since the Autumn of 2008’s financial meltdown, affects the NISPAcee regions particularly strongly, both indirectly – as members of the global community – and directly, because especially in Central and Eastern Europe, it had and still has, a massive impact, already toppling several governments and changing outlooks and policies on a fundamental scale. But the fact that the crisis is severe is as obvious as that at some time in the future, it will diminish and that the regions will (have to) recover and become competitive once more. The role of public administration in all of this is particularly important because the crisis has signaled and forced, both here and elsewhere, a “return of the state” on a scale beyond anything since the great transformation of late 1989 / 91. The state is back, and in many respects more strongly than before, because it is now in the business of administering not only the crisis, but also finance and even the economy, both via guarantees, subsidies, and policies and very directly by taking over entire sectors of the economy. In such a world, the role of public administration is necessarily large, because the “state in action” is public administration, and the success of crisis management – and the wise spending of all the sums allotted to it – as well as of a recovery – depends first and foremost on a highquality civil service, both in structure and personnel, that is capable of shouldering this gigantic task. The need for such a capacity of public administration and the increased importance of the public sector are therefore hardly contested any longer. It is quite obvious that the development of appropriate Information Technology and efficient information mechanisms in the public administration are core components of capacity building. Public administration represents the nucleus of the information mechanism of the state. It perceives, receives and processes information to determine the quality of public policymaking. Information mechanisms within public administration do not function properly, their deficiencies influencing the efficiency and transparency of the decision-making process in the administrative system. Only properly functioning information mechanisms can support the creation of a consensus based on policies and efficient implementation of government decisions and can increase the “absorption” capacities of the public administration. What is, however, much less clear is how this capacity can be achieved. Does this mean a return to more traditional, classical civil service models with wide competences ? Has the public discrediting of the market system, due to the crisis, also led to that of public management models copied from there ? Can we still afford such models if they have proven to be ineffectual; can we afford to abolish what has been a success ? Is the cutting-down of the size of the civil service to save public expenses a knee-jerk reaction that will do more harm than good, and cost more than it NISPAcee Announcements will save, or is it the only viable option in many countries right now ? Is the much-discussed “Neo-Weberian State” the appropriate new paradigm for crisis and / or post-crisis times ? Is there anything to be learned from earlier and other crises and public administration responses to them ? This is what scholars and practitioners will have to discuss in Warsaw in 2010. General Session Working Groups The call for papers for Working Groups, which will be included in next year’s conference, will be announced by the end of July, 2009. Deadline for applications to present papers: September 30, 2009. All additional information about next year’s conference will be published on the NISPAcee website: www.NISPA.org Call for Papers The NISPAcee Journal is predominantly devoted to public administration and public policy issues in Central and Eastern Europe. The main goal is to publish top quality papers based on own empirical research carried out in Central and Eastern Europe, theoretical papers developing general public administration and public policy theory, or their specific dimensions in the region. The Journal serves all interested parties – academicians, politicians and public officials – to help develop public administration and public policy theory and practice in the region. A high quality standard review process is the principal quality assurance tool of the Journal and the intention is to become one of the top periodicals in the area. The Journal is published twice per year. The first issue includes selected peer-reviewed articles. The second issue is based on papers from TED (EGPA/NISPAcee Trans-European Dialogue). The TED is an annual scholarly high-level focused conference on a timely topic in Public Administration. We invite colleagues to submit their research papers in English for consideration. Manuscripts should be sent in electronic form at whatever time. Editorial correspondence, including manuscripts for submission, should be addressed to Mr. Juraj Sklenar, managing editor, e-mail: sklenar@nispa.org. Information: http://www.nispa.org/_portal/ journal.php Translation of Selected Publications into CEE National Languages The publication project is supported by the LGPSRI/OSI (Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative affiliated with the Open Society Institute), Budapest, Hungary. The goal of this project is to translate relevant publications from the field from English to CEE national languages based on requests and needs of institutions from CEE countries. Eligibility is limited to members of NISPAcee and other institutions with professional interest in public administration in Central and Eastern Europe; Applicants will have to prove the utility of the translated publications in their respective countries, the distribution policy, quality of translation, and an ability to cover the distribution costs; Priority will be given to institutions, which will distribute the publication at their own expense; Applicants should determine clear overall calculation of costs of translation (checking/ editing) and publishing (priority will be given to reasonable price quotes for translation and publishing). Please send letters of inquiry and applications to NISPAcee Secretariat. NISPAcee news 3/2009 In order to include a wide array of potential contributors and to make the NISPAcee Annual Conference even more attractive to Public Administration and Policy scholars, experts, and practitioners and to further enhance its position as one of the most important meetings in the field internationally, the 18th NISPAcee Annual Conference will again include General Sessions, in which papers that cover topics, which go beyond the conference or working group themes, can be presented. The only criteria for acceptance are (a) scholarly quality, (b) interest of the topic and (c) “from or about the region”, i.e. papers should come from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus, or be about that region. The NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy The deadline: September 15, 2009 19 NISPAcee MEMBERSHIP Presently, the NISPAcee enlists 125 Institutional members (from 23 countries), 27 Associate members (from 14 countries), and 13 Individual members (from 7 countries). New Institutional members of the NISPAcee Department of Regional Science and Management, Faculty of Economics, Technical University of Kosice, Kosice, Slovakia Lazarski School of Commerce and Law, Warsaw, Poland Association of Finance Officers of Local Governments & Public Enterprises, Veles, Macedonia North Caucasian Academy of Public Administration Rostov-na-Donu, Russia NISPAcee NEWS is published with the support of the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative (Affiliated with the Open Society Institute), Nador ut. 11, 1525 Budapest 114, Hungary. NISPAcee News is published quarterly. We invite individuals as well as organisations to contribute to the first issue of volume XVI. NISPAcee reserves the right to edit submissions for clarity, style, grammar and space. The deadline for the next issue is September 15, 2009. NISPAcee Secretariat Polianky 5 841 01 Bratislava 42 Slovak Republic tel/fax: +421-2-6428 5357 tel/fax: +421-2-6428 5557 e-mail: nispa@nispa.org http://www.nispa.org 20